Giraffes? Giraffes!, in case you’ve been living under a math rock, is one of the genre’s most influential duos, yielding psychedelic silliness and dreams of looper pedals to nearly all that have witnessed them since 2005.
They’ve put out eight studio records and a handful of live albums as well, so you’d think the guys were, no pun intended, a little tapped out. But this is actually far from the case – both members of the band have sizable solo discographies as well that explore entirely different avenues of music, and today we have the distinct pleasure of premiering a track for Joseph Andreoli, the band’s guitar player, bass player, and occasional vocalist.
“Kickflip that coffin and ascend!!! (the unbreakable lightness of being totally fucking ghosted)” immediately reminds us of the whimsy we know and love from his main project, but it also really let’s him breathe and lean into the more emotive parts. The sliding guitar parts in particular really get your guts, nailing down the floaty, unrequited, but not totally defeated aftermath of being ghosted.
Check it out below:
One thing realized is that “Kickflip…” is also Andreoli’s first solo outing in nearly fifteen years. This is a bit mind-blowing for us from a personal standpoint, because a core math rock memory for us was hearing his track “At the Turf Field Behind My Parents’ House” on Youtube… allegedly, a decade ago. This song originally debuted on Andreoli’s Eye Candy and the Breath of Heaven Themselves record in 2010, and it was the first time we heard any solo material from either member of GG. We remember seeing the creepy video for it and having all kinds of questions, eventually seeing it reworked for GG’s 2018 album Memory Lame. This was also the song they played during soundcheck when we played with them at the Hi-Fi Lounge, so it just holds a special place in our hearts. Even if that makes us geriatric.
But “Kickflip…” seems to signal another wave of youthful energy for Andreoli – the song itself might take certain listeners back to the days of Superbass!!!! and More Skin with Milk Mouth. It’s relaxed, bemused melancholia is the kind of musical magic we crave from Joseph, and he’s beyond delivered. He also controls the dynamic a different way with this song, as it was recorded with live drums that he performed, which sound great. We can’t say for sure if the single indicates that there will be more music on the way like an EP or full-length, but we do know that we were holding our breath by the time it was over, and we’re kind of still holding it, so we’ll take what we can get.
For more everything, be it more of Joe’s solo stuff or GG goodies, check out his website here.